Written question asked by Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 22 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 24 November 2005. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Wednesday, 30 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Urban Gulls

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will estimate the number of urban gulls in (a) England, (b) each region and (c) each sub-regional area; and if she will provide corresponding estimates for any earlier period for which estimates are available.

Answer: The Seabird 2000 survey was conducted by Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) in partnership with other organisations including English Nature and RSPB. The survey looked at breeding populations of seabirds between 1998 and 2002. A full report of the survey can be found at:http://www.incc.gov.uk/pdf/Summary Britain Ireland seabird breeding numbers.pdfThe report includes a number of tables setting out seabird populations which provides figures for Operation Seafarer and Seabird Colony Register census in comparison to Seabird 2000 at administrative area and country level. Specific data for each region and sub regional area is not available.It can be seen from the report that the number of roof nesting gulls in England were approximately;Herring Gulls 47,400 pairshttp://www.jncc.gov.uk/PDF/S2000 14 heg tabs and figs web.pdfLesser Black—backed Gulls 44,200 pairshttp://www.jncc.gov.uk/PDF/S2000 13 Ibbg tabs and figs web.pdfGreat Black-backed Gulls 1470 pairshttp://www.jncc.gov.uk/PDF/S2000 15 gbbg tabs and figs web.pdf

Secondary information